2002 was the year I upgraded to Windows XP. It was the extra long Queen’s Jubilee Bank Holiday thing (which was only actually one extra day off as they sleight-of-handed us over the late May Bank Hol) when I installed it and it was another reasonably painful process. It wasn’t that XP didn’t work – it was that lots of things wouldn’t work with XP. The first problem was when the installer said that Lotus Approach wasn’t compatible. That was no great loss as I wasn’t a regular database user. The pre-install check didn’t note two other compatibility issues however. Power DVD immediately failed to work. A little box came up to tell me that it was an XP issue. It gave a link and said "click here to upgrade to an XP friendly version". I duly clicked but what I got wasn’t a fix – it was an invitation to buy the latest version for thirty or forty dollars. Not quite what I was expecting. Then came the biggest problem – XP wouldn’t read any of my CD-Rs because they had been recorded using an older version of Roxio. XP came with its own burning functionality (limited but existing) and this wouldn’t read any of my back up discs. Again, the Windows "fix" for the problem turned out to be a paid upgrade and I wasn’t happy. Fortunately, all my files were still on the computer and I was able to burn new discs but I was annoyed because I could no longer use CD-RWs in the same way as floppy discs (i.e. over-writing data with newer versions). I had to manually erase the entire disc before adding new data to it. It was a pain. In the ass.

The thing is, I knew I would have problems with XP. From everything I’d seen and read I knew there would be issues. I held off upgrading for months because I knew it would be hassle. So why did I go through with it? The answer is I was suffering form a severe case of OSX envy. I made the mistake of looking at the Apple website and seeing just how fantastic Mac OSX looked. And buying XP seemed a much cheaper way of getting a more glamorous operating system than forking out a grand for a Mac. More on that in 2003.

Early 2002 saw the upgrade from TV internet to proper broadband. I can't remember whether they were NTL or Cable n' Wireless at the time but they were slow out of the blocks to make their broadband worth getting. They also snuck a little sting into what was otherwise quite a perky and cute tail. There was no installation required - the modem was inside the cable box so it was literally just a case of running an ethernet cable from the back of the box to the back of the PC. Nothing, save perhaps driving or childbirth, could be simpler. I did it and it did not work. The letter advising me that my modem was activated arrived on the Monday. For three evenings I tried to make the wretched thing work. Then, on Thursday, a Welcome Pack arrived and right at the back - in small and embarrassed letters designed never to be read by man, woman or beast - was a shy mention that customers with certain cable boxes would need a cross-over ethernet cable in addition to a regular RJ45. I folded the page back so I wouldn't lose my place, drove to Maplin and a generic cable shop employee took one look at it and found exactly what I needed. One cable, one connector, one modest charge. Got home, it all worked. Five years later I would encounter a similar lack of "WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST SAY THAT AT THE BEGINNING???" when dealing with the same cable company and a broadband upgrade. The moral of the story is that no one ever learns anything about anything.

2002 was the year that PS was created Initially there were two boards but for ease of reference I’ll lump them together under their more familiar title. It was designed to be an alternative to the restrictive BBC message boards with their filters, inconsistent moderation and early closing. I was a moderator in those early days – more by being one of the first to join up than anything else – but when the sites were hacked by (cough) persons unknown the staff list was rebooted and I’d have to wait for another call up. I occasionally find saved pages from those early days and see how things have changes. Fewer people put on acts these days, the layout is tidier and of course there aren’t any adverts. But it is mainly the same faces (though we’ve lost one splendid fellow and one lovely lady since them olden times), the same pros and the same cons.

Having broadband also meant I was able to spend huge quantities of time MSNing my small group of comrades in e-arms. I’ve got a load of transcripts from those conversations but they by no means represent a full history. My record was a nine hour chat with Mr Rayner shortly before he left for University. Instant Messenger saw the beginning, the middle and (sadly) the end of my courtship with m’love, it built up the core group of writers who keep the site in business and it helped spread the Una Stubbs story further and wider than it had previously been known.

Broadband also gave me the chance to indulge in a little (i.e. a lot) of P2P action. WinMX was recommended by someone and I used it for several fruitful years. "It’s killing music" they say but I was never really into downloading music. Instead, I spent my time accumulating a full collection of "Audio Visuals" plays – the fan-produced Doctor Who adventures which pre-dated Big Finish and gave Nick Briggs his start in the business they call show. Or something. I also tracked down off-air recordings of every missing episode of Doctor Who not available on compact disc. Hissy, poppy, crackly and often incomplete they may have been but they were considerably better than nothing. And, yes, I happily bought the restored versions when they were eventually released. Other rarities I remember collecting included the unaired pilot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, some then-unreleased Paul Temples and a bunch of bootleg Bill Hicks recordings. Eventually though (and history is repeating itself more or less as we speak) I was downloading for the sake of it – because I could rather than because I was actually getting things I wanted – and WinMX became an occasional toy of necessity rather than a way of life.

In many ways, 2002 seems to be repeating itself as 2007. Broadband setup issues - check. A short term infatuation with a new download tool - check. A new Windows operating system to cause headaches (because we all know I'll succumb at some point soon) - check. A new PS (ok, arse end of 2006 but indulge me) - check. All that is left is an exciting but ultimately doomed romance. Any volunteers?